Question

Many of the coal mines in South Africa have either closed or are economically not viable.are the remaining coal mines capable of contributing enough to South Africa's economy

Answer 1

Answer:

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Explanation:

Although the mining sector no longer dominates the South African economy as it once did, mining accounts for a major proportion of the country's earnings of foreign exchange. ... Mine wages, once among the lowest in the country, are now among the highest. Wages account for some 40% of expenditure by the industry.

South Africa’s power utility Eskom is in crisis. In recent weeks, this has been brought home to South Africa’s 58 million citizens as major power cuts hit the country. The blackouts have renewed focus on the power utility’s economic and technical problems. But Eskom’s problems point to the much bigger issue of a country struggling to map out a new energy regime – one that reduces its very high levels of dependency on coal in a way that doesn’t devastate people’s lives.

South Africa is highly dependent on coal – almost 90% of its energy comes from coal-fired power stations. The urgency of change is clear on both global and local levels. Mining and burning coal is one of the most destructive activities on the planet. It represents an immediate threat to all forms of life and to scarce supplies of water, the degradation of arable land and toxic pollution of the air and water with extremely negative health impacts.

South Africa isn’t the only country in the world attempting to adjust its energy mix by moving away from fossil fuels to cleaner power sources. Dozens of countries such as Germany, Austria, Canada, Ghana and the Philippines are attempting to make the change.